Captain Westenra
by Aemeth
Summary: After their dance Mina and Lucy explore further what it would be like if Lucy were indeed a man - sets of right at the (in America) deleted scene in episode 1x3. Mina/Lucy


**I honestly started Dracula with the intention to ship Grayson and Mina... but it turns out that Mina and Lucy share the only deep and interesting relationship in that entire show! So here we go, leave me a note of your thoughts and if I should write more.**

* * *

Mina felt Lucy's soft hands lower down on her shoulders with a gentleness that belied her mocking and badgering words. She sometimes wished her friend would show this side more to the world... and to her. Yet she knew she was the only one allowed to see it in it's whole beauty and she knew better then to complain. Besides, what would she have done in her restricted life, the stern guidance of her scary doctor father, more at home in his asylum then in his family, the cold university where male professors and students first smiled at her as though she were a precious pet playing with their arsenal until the smiles were accompanied with a glint of fear and menace when they realized what she was capable of - what would she have done in this cold world without Lucy's humor? For despite all the knowledge she earned at university that her friend would never even begin to fathom, Lucy had taught her to laugh and to smile... which she did now with a devious hint.

"What do we do... with these _delicious_ officers?", she asked, raising her eyes suggestively at Lucy who now smiled in a manner Mina hardly ever saw; a pure one without the maliciousness that in her eyes tainted her friends character so much. It was huge and beautiful.

Lucy stepped back and extended a hand to her.

"May I?", she asked, very politely.

Mina played along immediately, bashing her eyelids in a way Lucy would and took her hand delicately.

"It would be my pleasure... Corporal Westenra."

A change went through Lucy's eyes, one Mina couldn't really put her finger on.

"_Captain_ Westenra", Lucy corrected softly and then they were dancing, Mina strangely taking the lead.

* * *

Timeless hours later after they scandalized the fine clubs and restaurants of London and found the anonymous congratulation letter and roses for Mina at Lucy's door, they stumbled up the stairs.

"Roses!", Lucy exclaimed when they reached her bedroom, her voice slurred by her drunkenness, "Men are so unimaginative... now, if - if _I _were a man courting a woman such like you - I would search for the rarest flower in England and bestow it to you... with my name _signed_."

Mina closed the door with her back and giggled along with Lucy, looking down at the roses in her arms.

Their laughter died and when Mina looked up again a thoughtful expression lay upon Lucy's face.

Mina crooked her head at her, smiling drunkenly.

"And what flower would that be, _Captain Westenra_?", she teased, picking up their play from before.

Lucy stepped close to her, her eyes still on the roses. Slowly they slid up to Mina's face, studying so intensely Mina felt her smile fade. She felt as though Lucy saw into her very heart in that moment and it took her breath away.

The blond's eyes fixed on her own blue ones and a gentle, melancholy smile graced her lips.

"A wild flower... the Spring gentian", she said in a hoarse, dreamlike voice. "Blue like your eyes."

Mina stared at her in astonishment and shortly after the smile left Lucy's face - it was like she had awoken from a dream.

A strange tension lay between them and for some reason Mina was desperate to break it.

"Dear me... what a fine man that Captain Westenra would be... he would break all the female hearts of London."

Lucy smiled, but it lacked her usual sneer at comments like those. She turned away.

"Without doubt I would", she replied half-hearted.

Mina had to laugh in delight as she imagined Lucy in a Captain's uniform.

"You would be the bravest soldier in the army!", she exclaimed, entwining their arms in excitement and spinning them around, "And no one would dare to challenge you! Inexorably in battle but full of mercy when your enemies lay at your feet, begging for mercy!"

Lucy laughed now, her beautiful laugh and she looked at her with the same fondness she usually had in their private moments together and it calmed Mina to see it returned.

She stilled their spin and grabbed her best friend by the arms; they were both wavering from the alcohol pulsing in their veins.

"And you would pick a smart, independent wife... and _never_ stand in her way."

Lucy's smile softened as she too grabbed Mina by her shoulders, stroking her arms.

"Never", she mouthed.

Mina sighed and giggled again a little.

"Ah, if you were that Captain Westenra indeed... I would become Mrs Westenra tomorrow." She had said it with glee and expected more laughter or a satisfied grin from her friend. But Lucy's face fell again and her mouth opened with silent despair, her eyes seeming to moisten.

"What?", Mina asked, worriedly. "What is it?"

But Lucy lowered her eyes and smiled.

She squeezed her arms and it was an endlessly tender touch, as if she was afraid Mina could break every moment. Her fingers stroked trembling patterns and her deep red lips quivered... then Lucy hurriedly let her go, taking of her jacket.

"Nothing, Mina. I just thought that Captain Westenra would likely be able to drink so much more than I and still stand steady on his feet, the enviable fool!"

And Mina laughed again and kissed Lucy's cheek before she too went to struggle with her garments... not seeing the tears that Lucy blinked away as she covered them with laughter.


End file.
